


(Pull Back Up) the Vestiges of Summer

by Cartwheellou



Series: After Summer's End [1]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Having Good Friends, Max's Parent's A+ Parenting, Summer's end, these children have shit lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 04:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15677919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cartwheellou/pseuds/Cartwheellou
Summary: “Max?!”Max pulled a hand out of his hoodie, raising it in greeting. “Sup.” The piece of paper with the address was still snug in his hand.“Wha—what are you doing here?!”“The middle of the night just seemed like such a lovely time to stop by. I was coming through the neighborhood already; you know how much I love my nightly strolls.”“I’m serious, Max; it’s like three in the morning and I haven’t seen you in seven months! It’s March!”“Yeah, I know. And honestly, it’s kind of super fucking cold. Can I come in?”





	(Pull Back Up) the Vestiges of Summer

**Author's Note:**

> That season 3 finale, eh? ...I died. This story is my eulogy.

Summer ended. Of course, Max always knew summer was going to end. He didn’t live in some magical pixie world where he believed time would just stop for them and he could live in a little bubble, spending all of his days eating prison reject food and trying not to get mauled by literally every living thing in a six mile radius. But when it did…

It was surprising. It’s not like he didn’t know it was coming, but it was in the way you would get surprised by the first hit of someone kicking the shit out of you. Even if you see them reeling their leg back, it still hurts like a motherfucker and you lose all your wind. And he saw it coming for weeks and weeks, but he couldn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t like the camp shutting down; it was worse than that, because not even Max could stop time the way he stopped a couple of overly nice old fucks. He couldn’t do anything when Neil’s dad showed up in his car and Neil turned to him, all shiny eyed and emotional.

“Max, my dad’s here,” Neil said, like Max couldn’t see the goddamn car right in front of them.

“You don’t think I can see that, Neil?” Max snapped.

“But… that means I have to go now.” His hands were wringing in front of his chest, perhaps a bit more intensely than they usually were. “This… might be the last time we ever see each other.”

“Yeah. But what about that bullshit you said at Camp Corp? We’ll always be friends, right? Or some junk like that.” He stuck his hands in his hoodie pocket and rocked back on his heels, eyes skating around the edges of his vision and trying to look anywhere but in front of him. Neil was still giving him those puppy eyes, goddamnit.

“Right. I’ll just miss you… a lot.”

“Yeah.” Max swallowed and worked up the nerve to stare back at him. This was the last time he would ever see Neil; he could suck it up a little bit and say something. Maybe he could even say something good enough that he wouldn’t regret it for the rest of his life. “I’ll miss you, too.” He blinked rapidly, sensation flowering in his face. Fucking…

“Are you crying, Max?”

“Absolutely not. Get your damn eyes, checked, Neil. Glasses are just what a nerd like you needs, anyway.”

Neil smiled, eyes flitting all over Max’s face. “We had a good run.”

“The best.” No one could see Max’s hands clutching at his stomach through his hoodie pocket.

“NEIL!” A blur dove in from the side, crashing into Neil and sending them sprawling to the ground. “I’LL MISS YOU SO MUCH. I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE LEAVING!” Nikki cried, half on top of him.

“Nikki! Get offa me!” She had her face buried in his chest, completely pinning Neil down—he was too much of a twig to be able to shove her off. Obliging, Nikki stood and pulled him up from the ground by his hand, sending him flying into her. She squeezed him tight around his middle, breath leaving his chest in an audible puff. Ever the good sport, he put his arms around her shoulders. “I’ll miss you, too,” he wheezed.

“Max, get in on this! Last group hug!”

“What? Nikki, I’m not—” His pitiful attempt to escape was swiftly crushed—just like his bones when she caught him by the sleeve and dragged him in, an arm around his neck. She had shifted her hold on Neil, as well, so they were both under her arms. “This is not a hug,” Max grumbled.

“Okay, okay.” She let both of them go, fingers trailing down their arms. Neil was quick to initiate a real hug, wrapping both of them up surprisingly comfortably in his bony arms. Nikki slung her arms around their backs as well, hauling them in a bit closer. Max would never be caught dead actively participating in a group hug, but… he took a passive enjoyment. It was a special occasion, after all. After a few seconds more than Max would have normally allowed, all three stepped back to a more comfortable distance.

“Are you done saying goodbye to your friends, Neil?” Carl shouted from the car, elbow and head sticking out the open window. “It’s a few hours home!”

“Yeah, dad! I guess I am…” Neil replied, shoulders and tone sagging. His eyes moved between Max’s and Nikki’s, unable to settle. “Goodbye, guys.”

Nikki sniffed, her waterworks starting up. “Goodbye, Neil.”

“See ya, Neil.”

After one last glance, he turned and picked up his bag, trodding over to the car and putting it in the open trunk.

Friends always; that’s what Neil said. In that moment, knowing he would likely never see his friend again, Max thought that was pretty fucking stupid. Sure, friends always, but what was the point of getting attached to someone if you were just going to let them be ripped away? They weren’t temporary friends—they had never been temporary friends. But it fucking felt like it.

“Neil, wait.” Neil looked up, some ray of hope in his gaze because at some point over the summer Max had taught that kid to have too much faith in him. “Wait right there, don’t fucking leave yet.” He raced towards the counselor's cabin, slamming the door open. David and Gwen were still outside, seeing kids off. He threw open drawers in their desk, scrabbling around inside for paper and a pen. He grabbed them both, firm in his hand, and dashed back to Neil waiting just where Max had left him.

Max panted lightly and shoved both in Neil’s direction. Neil took them with nonplussed eyes, looking between the contents of his hands. “What are these for?”

“Write your addresses down.”

“What? Why?”

“In case I ever need them, obviously! Just fucking do it!” Neil obeyed, closing the trunk and using the top as a writing surface. Upon finishing, he moved to hand the paper back to Max. Max reached out to accept it, but he hesitated at the last second. “Actually, write them down again over here.” He pointed well below where Neil had written them the first time, shoved in the top left corner as they were. “Awesome. Now give me the pen.” Max wrote his own address below the second, smaller and messier than Neil’s. He wrote it again below that, creating a third group. “Nikki, get over here! Take this pen; write your address here and here.” He pointed to the first and the last group.

“Okay!” She did as asked, penning her residence down where asked.

“Damn, Nikki; all the way in Sun City?” Max asked, holding the paper up.

“Yeah, it’s pretty far…”

“Whatever.” Max ripped the paper in three parts, shoving the piece with Nikki and Neil’s addresses in his pocket and holding each of theirs out to them. “Take it. There. _Now_ you can get out of here. And you better not forget us, dumbass, or I’ll show up on your step right when you need me least.”

Neil smiled, hands firm around the paper, already crinkling it. “Yeah, you do that.”

“Neil, let’s go!” Carl shouted.

“I’m going!” Neil yelled back, stomping around the car and flinging the door open. Neil looked over his shoulder one last time, hand poised to swing himself into the car. “Bye, guys.”

Nikki waved, fingers curling sadly. Neil disappeared out of sight, door slamming shut behind him. The lights of the car turned on, the engine rumbling lowly. It drove away, Neil’s face peeking out of the back dash as it retreated down the road, hand pressed up against the glass. Inside his pocket, Max tightened his grip around his piece of paper, slightly short of breath. He just couldn’t get any in.

But that was seven months ago.

 

* * *

  
Max stepped off the bus into the dark, dingy stars barely in view above his head, dull streetlamps all down the way on either sides of him. Behind him, the doors closed in a puff of mechanics and the engine reared back to life, the metal machine roaring off down the road with a cold stirring breeze and leaving Max utterly alone. He tightened his jaw and checked around for company, but not a soul was out. That was fine. His hand clenched around the few pieces of paper in his hoodie pocket; he walked over towards the light oasis of a street lamp and drew the largest one out, taking special care that the other ones remained inside. He unfolded it, revealing it to the yellow light and allowing him to scrutinize the streets perfectly printed on its surface.

He found the bus stop he was at on Jason Rd. quickly enough, tracing it up and down with a finger and scanning outwards for Reider St. It was off to the left a decent ways, appearing to be a three or four mile trek. Max sighed—of course Neil lived out on the shitty edges of town on some street that buses only came near once a day. He refolded his map and stuck it back next to his other papers, jangling safely between his two hands. He started away towards where the Linden St. intersection should be.

Maybe when he got there, Neil would wonder what Max was doing at his house in the middle of this seemingly random night. But it would probably work out—if Neil was even there. He said he was with his dad most of the time, so he probably was. If he wasn’t, Max might not be able to get over to his mom’s house in one night of busing—but if Neil was out, he could probably make it over to Nikki’s by dawn, and she would definitely be there. She would definitely let him hang out, too. Neil was at least worth checking out first though, because he didn’t want to go all the way to Sun City when there was a possibility he could be somewhere three hours closer. He already spent one and a half hours on a bus tonight, he didn’t need three more. Though from here, it would be more like three and a half, not counting all the walking he would need to do to get back to that god forsaken bus stop that probably wouldn’t run again until morning; the area was practically dead.

Few lights were on in the houses, as pretty much everyone was asleep—except for the one guy walking his dog on the other side of the street, because some people were just fucking weirdos. Every house looked the same—the same in the dark, at least. Same size, roughly, and similar enough shapes that their massed together silhouettes were just a choppy, repeating skyline against the dim stars. It was too bright out here to see real stars, like he did at camp in Sleepy Peak, but it was dark enough to actually have some, unlike the city Max lived in. It was stuck in between somewhere, looking even dumber than it would have if it just picked one. There weren’t any ambient sounds around, either, which was really strange: no sounds of calling night birds or chittering cicadas, but no sounds of rolling cars or laughing passersby, either. The slightest wind was felt against his face, nipping at his nose and ears until they were pained. His arms and legs were marginally better, protected by his clothes, but after too long it had seeped into the fabric and invaded his skin and bones.

When Max finally turned onto Reider St., feet sore and mind crazed by having to listen to nothing but his own footsteps for the last two hours, he almost could have just stopped there for the night, but he pulled out the tiny slip of paper that had been residing in his pocket and held it up to the light to double check the house number. 435 Reider St. Bulhaloo, CO. By now the paper was folded and fraying, becoming soft on the edges and in the crease. The corners were nipped and it was maybe a little frailer from how much Max had been loving it, but the ink was still sharp and deep and clear, boldly claiming the addresses of his friends. And that was the address Neil’s father’s place, loopily written in the top left part of the page; Max had gotten the corner. He pushed himself onwards, checking around for Neil’s house.

The house was an easy find, the house number blatantly displayed on the mailbox next to the streetlamp on the terrace, bright light shed upon the side so Max could read it clearly. Now he didn’t have to wander up near houses to try and read numbers like a creepy stalker in the dark. He walked up the cracked cement path, scraggly grass cropping up between the slabs and breaks and creeping in from the sides. He hopped up onto the landing in front of the door, sunken slightly on the right side. He stretched up and hit the doorbell.

Nothing happened. He waited a couple more seconds and pressed again. They were probably asleep—it was pretty late—so he gave them a few minutes to reach the door before pressing again. Where the fuck were they? At least Carl should be here.

Max gave up on the doorbell and opened the outside glass door to bang on the wooden one. At least this couldn’t be broken. Less kind this time, he proceeded to beat as fierce as he could until he could hear the hurried crescendo of feet approaching from the other side. He pulled back, still holding the glass door open as the brass knob spun and pulled back to reveal Carl, hair mussed and robe clad. The fabric did very little to hide his hairy legs and chest; the corner of Max’s lip pulled up in a grimace.

Carl squinted down at him, hampered by his lack of glasses. “Who are you?”

“Neil’s friend. Can you get him for me?”

His lips pulled down in a frown; Max feared that he was going to tell him Neil wasn’t there, but he replied, “He’s asleep right now.”

“Yeah, and I’m here right now. I’m not leaving until you go get Neil.”

Carl grunted in what Max hoped was disgruntled agreement before closing the door in his face. Max remained still, clenching his hand around the papers in his pocket. Not the map, though; maps were obnoxious to read when they were all wrinkled.

The door opened again a minute or two later to a half awake Neil, decked out in pajamas and tiredly rubbing his eyes. His slouch disappeared and his eyes popped open wide when he saw who was at his door. “Max?!”

Max pulled a hand out of his hoodie, raising it in greeting. “Sup.” The piece of paper with the address was still snug in his hand.

“Wha—what are you doing here?!”

“The middle of the night just seemed like such a lovely time to stop by. I was coming through the neighborhood already; you know how much I love my nightly strolls.”

“I’m serious, Max; it’s like three in the morning and I haven’t seen you in seven months! It’s _March_!”

“Yeah, I know. And honestly, it’s kind of super fucking cold. Can I come in?”

“I mean—yeah! Yeah, come in.” He stepped to the side, letting Max slide past him into the warmth of his house.

“Thanks.”

Neil shut the door behind him, stemming the flow of colder air with a slight shiver. “Okay, not that I’m not glad to see you, because I really am, but why the actual fuck did you come here?”

Max crossed his arms, the worn paper still caught between his fingers, very gently being toyed with. “I just wanted to. And technically I left my house at like eleven, so it’s not as fucked up as you’re making it sound.”

“That’s still kinda fucked up, Max.” Neil put a hand on Max’s upper arm, and it was the first touch in about five months he didn’t try to bat away. “Come on, let’s go to my room.”

Max let Neil guide him away from the entrance and up the half-flight of stairs. They entered some sort of living room area; there was a ratty old couch that had a couple blankets thrown across it, a coffee table laden with cup rings, and a tv against the opposite wall. It was messy, sure, with dust all around and old dishes and papers scattered about, but at least it had some fucking personality. Neil continued to tug him along by the wrist down an unlit hallway, darkened pictures crookedly lining the walls.

Neil pushed a door open at the end of the hall. He flicked a switch on, activating the ceiling light and revealing a smallish room covered wall to wall in nerdy science posters, all held up by thumb tacks and smushed border to border. Shoved in the corner was a desk covered in dirty beakers and flasks and shit, stained by odd liquids and coated in powders. A decked out, seemingly upgraded bunsen burner sat erect in the mess. Neil led Max over towards his unmade bed, plopping down in the center of it and gesturing for Max to take the beside bean bag.

“So,” Neil began, leaning forward and steepling his fingers. “Are you gonna tell me what’s up now?”

“Don’t do that, Neil, you look like a creep.”

“Stop avoiding the subject! If you had wanted to avoid the subject, you would have ridden an extra three hours to Nikki’s place!”

Max sighed, sinking down further into the bean bag. “Yeah, I know. It’s not that simple, though; it’s not like there was really a single reason. I just felt like shit and… decided to come here.”

“You didn’t have anywhere closer to go?”

Max crossed his arms. “Don’t act like you have any friends, either.”

Neil rolled his eyes. “Wow, you sure got me with that one Max. I mean, if you only wanted to get away from your house, you didn’t have to come here. You could have ran off to a park or stolen some shit, or something. You love doing that.”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I felt like.”

“Then what _did_ you feel like?” he pressed.

Max groaned, scrubbing his hands down his face and pulling at the bags of his eyes. “Are you really gonna make me fucking say it?”

“Say what?”

“I missed you, dammit!” Max snapped. “I missed having friends and having somebody that actually gave a fuck about my wellbeing! After camp, it was just back to my old life, you know?! Back to parents and kids at school and teachers. And none of them care! I used to tell myself I didn’t need any of them; I just said… being alone was fine. But… I don’t want to _do_ that anymore, Neil. I don’t want to be all alone.” He turned his head away so Neil couldn’t see his face anymore, but he could still feel Neil’s eyes burning into him like little hot coals of concern.

“It’s Saturday now, but when I left it was Friday. I knew that nobody would care if I left and didn’t come back until Monday, so that’s what I decided to do. I printed out bus routes and maps and took 30 bucks from my mom’s purse—she doesn’t notice anything below 60—and I… got on the bus and came here.” He swallowed, stretching his back so his only view was that of the ceiling. Neil had spiderwebs in the corners of his room. “And here I am.”

“That’s… how many times have you thought about this?”

“I don’t know. A couple. I left once, but I chickened out at the transfer point,” Max admitted.

“That’s not good, Max. Isn’t there anyone you can talk to?”

“You.”

“I mean that can actually _do_ something. Like a… guidance counselor, or…”

“Some other bullshit?”

“Yeah,” Neil sighed, defeated. “Okay, so maybe all of that _is_ bullshit, but you gotta do _something_.”

“I am doing something! I came here! I’ve only got five more years left until I can legally drive—and only like three until I can illegally drive and look old enough to fool cops!”

“Oh yeah? You and what car?”

Max shrugged. “I’m not there yet. Something’ll turn up.”

Neil swung his feet around to lay on his stomach, upper body hanging over the bed and into Max’s view. His face was all worried and shit. “Max, that’s not just gonna happen! And even if somehow you _do_ get your hands on a _fucking car_ and lift enough money from your mom to pay for gas and all that crap, that’s still three years minimum! That’s long enough you might wanna make a plan!”

“What do you want me to do, Neil?! Nothing I ever do is gonna make my parents care!” he shouted, waving his hands around.

“Who cares? Fuck them! If you can be gone for the whole weekend and they don’t even _notice_ , don’t waste any time _thinking_ about them! You don’t have to be so _edgy_ , Max. Make some friends at school. Find someone that hates your least favorite teacher and get them to fuck up their office with you. Nikki and I don’t have to be _all_ you have!”

Max grumbled, shoving his head off to the side. “It’s not like I can just magically fix my life, Neil.”

“No, but you might be able to do something if you _try_ . You made friends at summer camp—it’s worth _checking_ to see if there’s someone worthwhile in your everyday life.”

“Stop making it sound so easy.”

“It’s easier than _you’re_ making it sound—especially for you, Max. If you can manipulate a con man into giving a confession to the FBI, you can convince some brat you’re cool.”

“If it’s so easy, then why don’t _you_ make some friends?”

“I’m the victim of vicious bullying; it kinda puts a damper on any friendships I might want to enstate.”

Max rolled his eyes. Someone tried bullying him, once—they stopped after Max punched them in the face. But if it were that easy for everyone, bullying wouldn’t be a thing. “If I promise to try and make some friends, will you stop nagging me about it?”

“I’m pretty sure we both already agreed the reason you came here was because you wanted to be nagged.”

“Shut up. I’ll try and make some goddamn friends. Now can we do something else?”

“Like go back to sleep?”

“I haven’t slept at all tonight.”

Neil rolled off his bed, plodding over towards the light switch. “All the more reason for you to go to sleep, you monster.” He flicked it off, plunging the room into darkness. “Now shut the fuck up and close your eyes. We’ll do something fun in the morning.”

Max did as instructed, blocking out the dredges of light seeping in through the window and listening to the sounds of Neil stumbling back across the room, half-tripping on some article of clothing he had lying around on the floor and climbing onto his bed, shuffling under the covers. There were a few more seconds of squirming, the sounds of blankets being pulled against each other, and then something landed on Max’s face.

“Ack!” He reached up, feeling the sheet of fabric covering his head. He pulled it down and stretched it out—a blanket. “Thanks.” He flipped it out, covering himself. They both readjusted, getting comfy. Everything fell silent.

Sleeping in a room with someone always felt different from sleeping in a room alone, even if everyone was quiet. Max couldn’t quite hear Neil’s breaths, but he could listen for them. He wasn’t gonna say any bullshit like he could _sense_ Neil, but he knew he was there. 30 bucks and four hours of his time wasn’t too high a price to actually be lulled into a comfortable sleep, the edge of loneliness taken off and allowing him some fucking security. He could tell from the bean bag beneath him and the pervasive scent of dust and uncleaned science equipment that he was in a different, new place—it was nice. It was different, and that was nice. For the first time since coming back to parents and kids at school and teachers, Max fell asleep without having to wait for his tired and addled mind to pull him into unconsciousness with a dread for tomorrow. Instead, he looked forward to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok but I have actually been out driving super late at night and seen people walking their dogs and it diSTURBED ME. WHAT BRINGS SOMEONE TO THAT???


End file.
